LESLIE CRISS: Disappearance of Tessa the beagle still a mystery

“All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. For after all, he was only human. He wasn’t a dog.”
– Charles M. Schulz

“It’s just the most amazing thing to love a dog, isn’t it? It makes our relationships with people seem as boring as a bowl of oatmeal.”
– John Grogan

“We are made to persist. That’s how we find out who we are.”
– Tobias Wolff
I’ve not read any of Dennis Lehane’s books, mostly mysteries, but I’ve seen a few films developed from his books.
“Shutter Island” I hated; “Mystic River,” though dark and morose, was worth the ticket.
Truth is, I know little about this American author from the Boston area, but I like him.
Though I have a great respect for most wordsmiths who keep at the task of writing, that’s not why I have a new admiration for Lehane.
It’s because of Tessa.
Adopted by Lehane and his family, Tessa is a beagle who disappeared Christmas Eve.
Lehane has pulled out all the stops in order to find this family pet.
Lehane loves Tessa. Therefore, I love Lehane.
No one is being accused of pupnapping Tessa – she pushed her way out a gate with a latch that did not lock.
After that, details are sketchy.
But since the four-legged former stray went missing, Lehane has launched a search of amazing magnitude.
Thousands of folks from all over the country have visited the Finding Tessa Facebook page. An email blast of enormous proportions has been circulating since Tessa’s disappearance.
Lehane and countless others have spent hours a day searching for the beloved beagle, a Georgia stray adopted in Florida and now a resident of Massachusetts.
The author has offered a monetary award to anyone who is able to locate Tessa. This includes a promise of “no questions, absolutely no prosecution,” just in case someone has been harboring the now famous canine.
And that’s not all.
The person who finds Tessa will have a character in Lehane’s next book named for them, he’s pledged. And it won’t be just a small role.
I can tell you, blogs are blazing with banter about this beagle. It seems to me, most folks are more interested in the 15 or so minutes of fame than the cash. Or, of course, the dog.
One woman wrote this: “I’ll help him find his dog, but I want to choose what sort of character I get to be …”
Are you kidding me? Obviously, she’s never loved and lost a pet.
Here’s hoping Tessa finds her way home. I’d be helping if I lived close enough.
Not for my name in a book or a reward in my pocket.
I’d do it for the love of Tessa.
leslie.criss@journalinc.com